Play FreeCell solitaire online

FreeCell is the solitaire where every card is face up from the start, so skill decides nearly every game. Each deal here is solved by a built-in solver before you see it, undo is unlimited and hints follow a winning line. No app, no sign-up and no interstitial before play; it works offline and from the keyboard.

How to play FreeCell

1. All 52 cards are dealt face up into eight cascades: four of seven cards and four of six.
2. The goal is to move every card to the four foundations, one per suit, from ace to king.
3. On the cascades, build down in alternating colours: a red 8 goes on a black 9.
4. The four free cells each hold one card. Use them to park cards you need to move out of the way.
5. Any card, or any valid run, can go into an empty cascade.
6. Runs move as a unit only up to a limit, shown under the board: (free cells + 1) × 2 for each empty cascade.
7. Drag cards, or tap a card and then its destination. Double-tap sends a card to its foundation, onto a cascade that takes it, or into a free cell.
8. Safe cards go up to the foundations by themselves. There is no losing position; undo if you get stuck.

FreeCell strategy: how to solve more deals

Because nothing is hidden, FreeCell is a planning game. Before your first move, spend a minute reading the layout: where are the aces and twos, and what is sitting on top of them? Most of the game is about digging those cards out without filling every cell.

Treat free cells as scarce

Every card in a cell costs you twice: the cell is gone, and the limit on how many cards you can move as a run shrinks. With four empty cells you can move five cards at once; with one, only two. Put a card in a cell only when you can see how it will come out again, ideally within a few moves.

Aim for an empty cascade

An empty cascade is worth more than a free cell. It takes any card or run, and it doubles your run limit: with four free cells and one empty cascade you can move ten cards. Look for a short cascade you can clear early, and when you have one, avoid filling it with a single card unless that card unlocks something big. If you must use it, move a long run there rather than one card.

Dig out the low cards first

Aces and twos buried deep in a cascade block everything above them. Work on the cascade that hides the most low cards, and count before you start: if freeing an ace needs five cards moved and you have room for four, look for a different order.

Build long, ordered runs

A cascade that is already in descending, alternating order is a safe place for cards and can move as one unit later. Prefer moves that extend a clean run over moves that bury a card under the wrong colour.

Use the hint to check yourself

Every deal starts with a known solution. If you are unsure whether your position is still winnable, a hint searches from where you are and shows the next move of a winning line when it finds one. Undo is unlimited, so step back and try again.

Is every FreeCell deal solvable?

Almost every FreeCell deal can be won; only a tiny fraction cannot. Here you do not have to take that on trust. Before a deal is shown, a built-in solver must find a complete win, searching up to 40,000 positions and using the same run limit you play with. If it fails, the game tries up to two more deals derived from the same puzzle code. In testing, every random deal we tried was solved on the first attempt, usually in a few milliseconds.

A proven deal shows "Deal: Solvable" in the header and "This deal can be solved." under the board. In the rare case that no candidate is proven, the deal is marked "Not guaranteed" instead.

Safe moves to the foundations

After each move, cards that nothing will need again go to the foundations by themselves: aces and twos always, and other cards once both foundations of the opposite colour have reached the rank below. You can switch this off in settings; the change applies from the next game. Cards on a foundation stay there.

Where FreeCell comes from

FreeCell belongs to a family of open patience games where all cards are dealt face up and a few spare cells hold cards in reserve. It descends from older games such as Baker’s Game, which is played the same way except that cards are built down by suit rather than by alternating colour. The switch to alternating colours made the game much more forgiving, and it became widely known through personal computers. Researchers who have tested very large numbers of deals found that almost all of them are solvable.

Daily FreeCell, stats and hints

The daily FreeCell is one deal a day, the same for everyone, changing at midnight UTC. Solving it builds a streak, and the last 30 days stay open in the archive.

The timer starts on your first move and pauses when the page is hidden. Stats are kept in your browser: games played, won, win rate, and best and average time. FreeCell keeps no score; the win panel shows your time and moves. Undo and redo are unlimited.

The first two hints in each game are free. When ads are switched on later, further hints offer a short ad or a 30-second wait. Every deal has a puzzle code such as A7K3Q; ?p=A7K3Q in the address replays it, and the win panel offers a short result to share.

Plays anywhere, no app, no account

All eight cascades fit a 360-pixel phone with cards about 40 pixels wide, and every cell, foundation and cascade can be played with the arrow keys and Enter. Tidy Puzzles runs entirely in your browser: there is no app to install, no account to create and no interstitial before you can play. After the first visit the game also works offline, because each puzzle is generated on your device from a seed. Every board can be played with the keyboard alone, on a phone or a desktop, and your stats and unfinished puzzles stay in this browser rather than on a server.